RELATED WEB SITES

National Runaway Switchboard:  Provides information and resources to runaways, their families and runaway programs.  www.nrscrisisline.org

The Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) supports local communities in providing services and opportunities to young people, particularly runaway and homeless youth.  FYSB does so by awarding funding that enables communities to offer services to young people and their families and to test new approaches to helping youth.

In addition, the Bureau has created a network of support that includes a national hotline and referral system for runaway and homeless youth; offers conferences, trainings, and on-site consultations; documents effective practices; and distributes information.  The Youth Network Council, in Chicago, Illinois serves as the regional provider of training and technical assistance to programs funded by the Family and Youth Services Bureau.  

AmeriCorps is a network of national service programs that engage more than 50,000 Americans each year in intensive service to meet critical needs in education, public safety, health, and the environment. AmeriCorps members serve through more than 2,100 nonprofits, public agencies, and faith-based organizations. They tutor and mentor youth, build affordable housing, teach computer skills, clean parks and streams, run after-school programs, and help communities respond to disasters. Created in 1993, AmeriCorps is part of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which also oversees Senior Corps and Learn and Serve America. Together these programs engage more than 2 million Americans of all ages and backgrounds in service each year.

The Wisconsin National and Community Service Board (WNCSB) was established in 1994 in response to the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 (refer to Wisconsin Act 437). The WNCSB supports service in Wisconsin primarily by granting AmeriCorps funds to organizations that involve citizens in service activities that meet human, educational, environmental, public safety, and homeland security needs.  Through their participation in AmeriCorps programs, citizens are given the opportunity to not only enrich the lives of the people and communities they serve but also their own lives through professional and personal development.

AmeriCorps and other national service initiatives are funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency.  In addition, the Corporation provides education awards to participants who successfully complete a term of service with an AmeriCorps program.